Effects of erythropoietin on neuronal proliferation and apoptosis in neonatal rats after infection-induced brain injury / 中国当代儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effects of erythropoietin (EPO) on the neuronal proliferation and apoptosis in neonatal rats after infection-induced brain injury and the neuroprotective mechanism of EPO in neonatal rats with infection-induced brain injury.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Twenty-six two-day-old neonatal rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: control group (intraperitoneally given an equal volume of normal saline), lipopolysaccharide (LPS) group (intraperitoneally given LPS 0.6 mg/kg), and EPO group (intraperitoneally given LPS 0.6 mg/kg and EPO 5 000 U/kg). These groups were injected with respective drugs for 5 consecutive days. Meanwhile, each group was intraperitoneally injected with 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) (50 mg/kg) once a day for 5 consecutive days. The expression of BrdU and cleaved Caspase-3 in the hippocampal dentate gyrus was detected by immunohistochemistry at 24 hours after the last injection.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The number of neuronal cells in the hippocampal dentate gyrus in the LPS and EPO groups was significantly greater than in the control group (P<0.05), but there was no significant difference between the LPS and EPO groups. The EPO group had a significantly higher number of BrdU-positive cells in the subgranular zone of hippocampal dentate gyrus than the LPS group (51±9 vs 29±6; P<0.05), but a significantly lower number of BrdU-positive cells than the control group (51±9 vs 67±12; P<0.05). The EPO group had a significantly lower number of cleaved Caspase-3-positive cells in the subgranular zone of hippocampal dentate gyrus than the LPS group (27.9±1.5 vs 34.0±1.3; P<0.05), but a significantly higher number of cleaved Caspase-3-positive cells than the control group (27.9±1.5 vs 21.0±1.7; P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>EPO can promote hippocampal neuronal proliferation and reduce neuronal apoptosis in neonatal rats after infection-induced brain injury.</p>

Perinatal conditions of preterm infants with different severities of respiratory distress syndrome / 中国当代儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To understand the risk factors for respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) by comparing the perinatal conditions of preterm infants with different severities of RDS.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 667 preterm infants with RDS were classified into 4 groups according to the chest X-ray severity: grade I (217 cases), grade II (225 cases), grade III (126 cases) and grade IV (99 cases). The perinatal conditions of the preterm infants were reviewed retrospectively.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>There were no significant differences in the gender, the percentage of twins, the percentage of the younger one in twins, maternal age, the percentage of using antenatal corticosteroids, the percentage of premature rupture of membranes, the percentage of placental abruption, the delivery mode and the fertilization mode in preterm infants with different severities of RDS. With the increasing severity of RDS, the birth weight and the gestational age decreased, and the percentage of the infants with Apgar score ≤7 or maternal pregnancy-induced hypertension increased (P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The severity of RDS is related to gestational age, birth weight and perinatal asphyxia in preterm infants.</p>